Throughout the United States, public schools are required to identify and support children who are struggling to learn. Federal law mandates that all children are entitled to a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment (IDEA 2004). The “least restrictive environment” refers to an environment that is as close to a general cation setting as possible. Only when it is determined that a child’s edu-cational needs require removal from the general education setting is a child allowed to be placed in a more restrictive environment, such as a resource room, special day class, or special education school.
Response to Intervention (RTI)
Typically, in public schools, when a child begins to struggle, a proce-dure called Response to Intervention (RTI) is followed. RTI has three levels: Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3. Each level offers an increasing amount of support.
RTI Tiers
RTI is a relatively new development in our educational system. It was initiated to avoid the “wait to fail” approach that was previously in
22 Helping Your Child with Language-Based Learning Disabilities
place. RTI is a proactive approach that provides support to students before they fall behind.
In the public school system, children who are struggling with class material are provided with additional, targeted support in class. This Tier 1 support typically lasts five to eight weeks, at which point a student is assessed and either returned to regular instruction or moved into Tier 2.
Tier 2 support is small- group, in- class instruction that typically pro-vides remedial and supplementary instruction for fewer than twenty weeks. In elementary school, most of the children who receive Tier 2 support have slowly emerging reading and writing skills (IDEA 2004).
Therefore, Tier 2 instruction usually focuses on remedial reading, writing, and spelling instruction. Tier 2 instruction is typically thirty minutes, three to five days per week. Unfortunately, this may not be enough time to adequately address the learning needs of a child with a language- based learning difficulty.
Children who continue to struggle after receiving Tier 2 support are moved into Tier 3. Tier 3 support offers more time, forty- five to 120 minutes each school day, and smaller teacher- to- student ratios, 1:1– 3.
Tier 3 support typically focuses on remediation and offers more opportu-nities for work to be done in a scaffolded fashion with the teacher (IDEA 2004).
Both Tier 2 and Tier 3 support are offered without any eligibility requirements aside from teacher observations. For some children, these extra layers of instruction are all that is needed. For many children, par-ticularly those with LBLDs, support beyond RTI is needed.
Sarah’s Story (continued)
Although Sarah received Tier 2 support, at the end of the school year, Sarah’s teacher recommended that she repeat first grade. After considerable thought, her parents urged her teacher and the school administrators not to hold her back. They knew Sarah would want to be with her friends and pointed out that, physically and mentally, Sarah was a normal, energetic child who got along well with her peers. Reluctantly, the school agreed to promote Sarah.
Correctly Assessing Your Child 23
A Quick Note about Grade Retention
For many years, it was common practice for underachieving children to repeat a grade. This practice is referred to as grade retention. It has been the topic of considerable debate. Current evidence suggests that, in most cases, grade retention is not the best course of action (Jimerson 2001). Repetition of course material alone does not necessarily result in mastery, nor does an extra year of developmental maturity necessarily address slowly emerging skills. It has been my experience that grade retention has been successful in some cases. The decision to have a child repeat a grade should only be made after careful consideration.
Sarah’s Story (continued)
Even with Tier 2 and then Tier 3 support, Sarah was struggling in second grade. Her frustration and anxiety frequently boiled over, and Sarah would lapse into periods of disruptive behavior. She was frequently kept in at recess for not following class rules and was routinely admonished for not doing her homework. When called on to read, she froze with fear. Her classwork, test, and quiz scores were all far below those of her classmates. She was, however, learning one thing very well: she was not a good student.
Within the first couple of months of second grade, Sarah’s parents noticed her downward spiral. They were perplexed. At home, Sarah was the same bright and attentive little girl she had always been. She was kind to her little brother and gracious at family gatherings, where she quickly developed a reputation for being a great entertainer. Sarah was much liked by her friends and had a
remarkable capacity to draw fantastical creatures at every
opportunity. Why was she such a success as a child but struggling so tremendously as a student? Her parents became deeply concerned about their daughter and what the future may hold for her.
24 Helping Your Child with Language-Based Learning Disabilities
504 Plan
In some instances, when a child struggles to learn at school, a teacher, parent, or school administrator can request the implementation of a 504 Plan. A 504 Plan is based on Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It can be implemented when a child exhibits learning or behavioral differences that impede his or her ability to learn. Eligibility for a 504 Plan does not require a specific diagnosis. It does require a school meeting, but it only involves parents, teachers, and a school administrator. A 504 Plan is a written set of accommodations that offer a child small adjustments to classroom instruction (Rehabilitation Act of 1973). These adjustments can include preferential seating to be closer to the teacher, extended time on tests, test locations with reduced dis-tractions, reduced homework, support with note taking, and assistance fulfilling other in- class responsibilities.
A 504 Plan is implemented as long as the child’s educational needs can be met in a general educational setting. If a child needs support beyond what the 504 Plan provides, the child will be considered for an IEP. A 504 Plan does not identify a specific learning or behavioral dis-ability; therefore, simply having a 504 Plan does not make a student eli-gible for special education services, such as learning specialist support, resource room help, placement in a special day class, or an alternative learning environment. 504 Plans do not require that a child be evaluated to determine if he or she is eligible for special education services; this makes them fairly quick and easy to implement.
Sarah’s Story (continued)
Sarah’s parents’ concern grew following the first parent- teacher conference of the school year. Her second- grade teacher, Ms. Price, shared with Sarah’s parents that their daughter was struggling to keep up in class. She explained that Sarah always appeared lost and was unable to follow class instructions. Ms. Price said Sarah rarely raised her hand to answer questions, and, when called on, she had a very difficult time organizing her thoughts. The teacher said Sarah needed many reminders not to draw during class time or look out the window when she should be doing her seatwork. Sarah’s desk was a
Correctly Assessing Your Child 25
mess, and she was constantly losing her possessions. To their surprise, Sarah’s parents learned that homework assignments they had done with their daughter were never submitted.
Sarah’s parents had had enough. With the help of Ms. Price, they requested that the school district evaluate Sarah to try to understand why she was struggling. Within several weeks, a school district psychologist had completed a comprehensive educational evaluation of Sarah and provided her parents with a report detailing her learning characteristics.
The testing showed that Sarah’s reading, writing, spelling, and math skills were significantly below what would be expected considering her age. This indicated that Sarah met the criteria for a specific learning disability (SLD), which includes learning issues such as dyslexia. The testing also revealed that Sarah had
pronounced deficits in some areas of attention and memory. This indicated that Sarah also met the criteria for other health impaired (OHI), which includes issues such as ADHD. These designations, SLD and OHI, are two of the thirteen eligibility criteria covered by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004. By meeting these eligibility criteria, Sarah was now able to receive an IEP and access to special education services.
Individualized Education Plan (IEP)
When a child exhibits pronounced learning and behavioral differ-ences at school, a 504 Plan may be insufficient. In this case, a child’s parents or the school can seek an individualized education plan. Access to IEP is mandated under IDEA. Among other things, IDEA guarantees that every child receives a free and appropriate public education (IDEA 2004).
During an assessment for IEP eligibility, a child will be assigned an evaluator by the school. This individual is a school psychologist who is trained to administer a variety of educational and psychological assess-ments. In some cases, the school will request additional testing to better understand the learning or behavioral challenges a child exhibits. This testing is conducted by qualified specialists and is referred to as an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE).
26 Helping Your Child with Language-Based Learning Disabilities
The process by which a child receives an IEP and qualifies for special education support is complex and involves many school personnel. Here are the steps leading to an IEP:
1. The child is identified as struggling at school and unable to access curriculum.
2. The child is referred for an evaluation.
3. The evaluation determines that the child has a significant dis-ability that adversely affects his or her dis-ability to access curriculum.
4. The disability meets one of the thirteen IDEA eligibility catego-ries (see chart).
5. An IEP meeting is convened to determine what additional support the child needs in order to access curriculum. This meeting includes the following individuals:
School psychologist General education teacher Special education teacher Leading school administrator School nurse
The child
The child’s parents
Any additional individuals the parents would like to invite The IEP stipulates supplementary support services and other instruc-tional accommodations needed by the child. The IEP also includes a list of specific learning goals and a timeline in which the goals should be achieved (IDEA 2004). If the parents feel that the support offered is insufficient, they can request more. If this request is denied, the parents can file an appeal and seek additional support through the appeals process. An IEP does not provide a specific diagnosis of your child’s learning challenges. The goal of an IEP is to determine your child’s eligibility to receive special education.
Correctly Assessing Your Child 27
The Thirteen Eligibility Categories Covered by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
1. Specific learning disability (SLD) means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language— spoken or written— that may adversely affect a child’s ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do math. SLDs include dys-lexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia.
2. Other health impairment (OHI) includes a wide range of physical ill-nesses and health issues, including limited mental alertness and height-ened mental alertness, that interfere with memory and attention.
ADHD is considered an OHI.
3. Autism means a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction. Other character-istics include engagement in repetitive activities, resistance to environ-mental change or change in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences.
4. Speech or language impairment includes stuttering, impaired articula-tion, a language impairment, or a voice impairment.
5. Intellectual disability means significantly lower intellectual abilities and significant challenges with social and life skills.
6. Emotional disturbance (ED) covers a broad range of mental disorders such as pervasive depression, anxiety, and fears. It also includes disor-ders such as schizophrenia. ED includes inappropriate behaviors or feel-ings, and the inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers.
7. Visual impairment, including blindness, means an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child’s educational performance.
8. Deafness means a hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing information through hearing.
28 Helping Your Child with Language-Based Learning Disabilities
9. Hearing impairment means a dysfunction in hearing that adversely affects a child’s educational performance but that is not included under the definition of deafness in this section.
10. Deaf- blindness means hearing and visual impairments.
11. Orthopedic impairment means a severe orthopedic disability that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.
12. Traumatic brain injury means an acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force.
13. Multiple disabilities means concomitant impairments (such as intellectual disability– blindness or intellectual disability– orthopedic impairment).
This summary is based on Section 34 CFR § 300.8 in IDEA (2012).
This sheet is also available for download at the website for this book: http://
www.newharbinger.com/40989. See the very back of this book for details on how to access it.
Many of the services available to a child through his or her IEP are provided in the context of different settings:
Push- in support is when a special education teacher provides support to one or more students in the context of a regular education classroom.
This support can occur for part or all of the class.
A resource room is typically a room on campus where a child goes to receive help on a specific skill or in a specific subject. This support from a resource teacher can range from additional help on a class assignment to remedial skill instruction to all instruction in a specific subject, like reading. Children may spend anywhere from one to seven hours a week in the resource room. Resource room placement should be considered when a child who has qualified under an IEP needs explicit remedial instruction in reading, writing, spelling, and/or math, or when the content of a regular class exceeds his or her processing capacities.
Correctly Assessing Your Child 29
A special day class is almost always designated for children with signifi-cant learning delays and behavioral differences. Children in special day class spend the entire school day in this class, receiving instruction in all subjects. Placement in a special day class should be considered when the general education program does not meet a child’s social, emotional, and/or learning needs.
Special education day and residential schools vary enormously depending on the population of students they serve. Some schools are designed for children with severe learning and behavioral differences, while other schools are designed to serve only students with LBLDs. The range is so wide that school placement is best determined through research and the advice of a special education school placement specialist.
What If I Disagree with the Evaluation or Plan Offered?
If you disagree with the findings of the school’s evaluation or the supplementary support the school offers, there is an appeals process you can follow. You can also seek an independent evaluation to help you better determine what may underlie your child’s learning and behavioral differences.